Lake Placid gets two new trolleys for transit system

January 30, 2014

LAKE PLACID - The village has ordered two new, leased trolleys for Placid XPRSS.

The first arrived Tuesday, Jan. 21, and the second had not yet arrived by Jan. 28.

Brad Hathaway, village Department of Public Works superintendent, said the old trolleys had too much wear and tear and needed to be replaced.

"I think both of them had over 170,000 miles and were past their useful life," Hathaway said.

Mayor Craig Randall said the trolleys were in service for around two years and it was time for them to go.

"Last year we became aware that the trolleys needed to be replaced," Randall said.

It proved to be a long journey for the trolleys to arrive in Lake Placid. Ordering them from Molly's Trolleys was not easy, especially since they were funded by three different government bodies, Randall said.

The trolleys were purchased through a grant program that allowed Lake Placid to ease their share of the burden in costs.

The trolleys cost the village $30,686, 10 percent of the total $306,860 amount for both vehicles. The state of New York picked up another 10 percent, and the remaining 80 percent was paid by the federal government.

Randall said one of the trolleys cost more because it had slightly different equipment, a distinction of $6,742.

What will happen with the old trolleys when both of the new ones arrive?

"The two older trolleys that are going off the road, one will be kept as backup, and one will be sold," Randall said.

Lake Placid has three operating trolleys and two buses.

Overall, Randall said he is pleased with the trolley program "as long as we can sustain funding sources.

"It serves a number of different purposes," he said. "We have people that just get on the trolleys to ride it."

Randall said the trolleys work great in the warm summer weather but are retired in the winter because the road salt and aluminum exterior of the trolleys don't mix.

Trolley driver Ken Foster said the new trolley is a big improvement over the older ones, which are smaller.

"I think it's very nice," Foster said. "It has more room in the driver's compartment compared to the others.

"I think it's going to work out pretty well," he added. "The tourists really love to ride on these things."